`Ali b. Ibrahim from his father from al-Hasan b. Mahbub from Ya`qub as-Sarraj and `Ali b. Ri’aab from Abu `Abdillah عليه السلام that when Amir al-Mu’mineen عليه السلام was pledged allegiance to after the killing of `Uthman, he went to the pulpit and gave a sermon in which he said: Surely your trials will return to the form they were in on the day Allah sent His Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم. By the One who sent him with the truth: you will be perplexed with a perplexity and sieved with a sieving until the lowest of you becomes the highest of you and the highest of you becomes the lowest of you. And the foremost ones who precede [others] would be those who used to fall short, and the foremost ones who used to be those who would precede [others] would fall short. By Allah, I have not hidden a sign, nor have I told you a lie, and I have informed you of it at this place and on this day (or, I have been informed at this place and on this day). (al-Kafi, Volume 1, hadith 938)

Several of our companions from Ahmad b. Muhammad from Mu`ammar b. Khallad.

He said: I heard Abu’l Hasan عليه السلام say: “Do men imagine that they will be left because they say ‘We believe’ and will not be tested with schism (yuftanun)?” (29:2). Then he said to me: Do you know what the schism (fitna) is? I said: May I be your ransom, those who are with us [say it is] schism in religion. So he said: They will be refined(?) as gold is refined. Then he said: They will be purified just as gold is purified. (al-Kafi, Volume 1, hadith 941)